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59-536: The role exists in the civil service of the United Kingdom and several Commonwealth countries including Australia , India and New Zealand as well as other countries influenced by the Westminster system . A private secretary is normally of middle management level; however, as the key official responsible for disseminating ministers' decisions and guidance on matters of policy, and as their gatekeeper,

118-560: A commercial approach to their tasks. However, the Government conceded that agency staff would remain civil servants, which diluted the radicalism of the reform. The approach seems somewhat similar to the Swedish model, though no influence from Sweden has ever been acknowledged. The Next Steps Initiative took some years to get off the ground, and progress was patchy. Significant change was achieved, although agencies never really achieved

177-429: A government minister and officials in the department or ministry. He or she has overall responsibility for coordinating the development of the minister's policy remit, ensuring that the decisions of the minister are clearly and fully implemented by the department. In that respect a PS and APS will often be in a position of debate with colleagues of much higher seniority, as well as be a sounding board for senior officials in

236-411: A new approach to delivery featuring clear targets and personal responsibility. Without any statutory change, the managerial functions of Ministries would be hived off into Executive Agencies , with clear Framework Documents setting out their objectives, and whose chief executives would be made accountable directly (in some cases to Parliament) for performance. Agencies were to, as far as possible, take

295-472: A principal private secretary in the United States federal government would be chief of staff . The private secretary to the sovereign is viewed as being equivalent to a permanent secretary , the head of a government department. The role of the private secretary to a secretary of state originated in the 18th century. Today, a junior minister may have a three-person private office consisting of

354-454: A private secretary and two assistant private secretaries; whereas a more senior minister may have a five-person private office consisting of a senior private secretary, private secretary and three assistant private secretaries. The same applies to a Cabinet-level minister's private office but on a larger scale, due to a cabinet minister usually being responsible for entire government departments and agencies. Private secretaries who are members of

413-627: A rank above senior principal private secretary that takes care of the office of a secretary to the Government of India or an equivalently ranked member of the Central Board for Excise and Customs, member of the Railway Board, or the chairman. Pay is equivalent to that of a director to the Government of India. Persons holding the role of private secretary to a minister in New Zealand are civil servants. Senior Private Secretaries are

472-524: Is the head of the private office of the foreign minister of His Majesty's Government , and is located in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Main Building . At the start of the 19th century, the foreign secretary would have had one or two private secretaries , who were often personal appointments of the office-holder. As the complexity of British foreign policy grew significantly, and consequently

531-788: The Acts of Union 1800 abolished the Parliament of Ireland , the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was retained in formal charge of the Irish executive based at Dublin Castle . The Irish Office in Whitehall liaised with Dublin Castle. Some British departments' area of operation extended to Ireland, while in other fields the Dublin department was separate from the Whitehall equivalent. Following

590-630: The Central Policy Review Staff (CPRS), and they were in particular given charge of a series of Programme Analysis and Review (PAR) studies of policy efficiency and effectiveness. But, whether through lack of political will, or through passive resistance by a mandarinate which the report had suggested were "amateurs", Fulton failed. The Civil Service College equipped generalists with additional skills, but did not turn them into qualified professionals as ENA did in France. Recruits to

649-627: The Civil Service (SCS2), and also equivalent to a rear admiral in the Royal Navy and major general in the British Army . Holders of the post often go on to hold some of the most senior ambassador posts overseas, and also often honoured with a knighthood . This list below shows holders' names as they were at the time of holding the post; details of their later careers and honours can be found in individual articles. In addition,

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708-744: The Houses of Parliament ; employees of the National Health Service (NHS); or staff of the Royal Household . As at the end of March 2021 there were 484,880 civil servants in the Civil Service, an increase of 6.23 per cent on the previous year. The Northern Ireland Civil Service is a separate civil service in the United Kingdom. the incorruptible spinal column of England The Offices of State grew in England, and later

767-767: The Office of Works and the Navy Board grew large. Each had its own system and staff were appointed by purchase or patronage. By the 19th century, it became increasingly clear that these arrangements were not working. Under Charles Grant , the East India Company established the East India Company College at Haileybury near London, to train administrators, in 1806. The college was established on recommendation of officials in China who had seen

826-603: The Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the Prime Minister . A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a member of Parliament appointed to act as unpaid assistant to a minister, and should not be confused with a private secretary. The Private Secretary to the Sovereign is viewed as being equivalent to a Permanent Secretary , the head of a government department. Private secretaries also work in

885-723: The Property Services Agency and the Crown Suppliers , were being dismantled or sold off. Next, shortly after Thatcher left office, in July 1991, a new programme of market-testing of central government services began, with the White Paper Competing for Quality (Cm 1730). Five-yearly or three-yearly policy and finance reviews of all agencies and other public bodies were instituted, where the first question to be answered (the "prior options exercise")

944-477: The Senior Civil Service are referred to as a principal private secretary. The order of precedence is principal private secretary, senior private secretary (rarely now in existence), private secretary and assistant private secretary. A similar role to a principal private secretary in the United States federal government would be chief of staff . The private secretary is the principal link between

1003-671: The United Kingdom , the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government , the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government , which is led by a cabinet of ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . As in other states that employ the Westminster political system ,

1062-525: The imperial examination system. In government, a civil service, replacing patronage with examination, similar to the Chinese system, was advocated a number of times over the next several decades. William Ewart Gladstone , in 1850, an opposition member, sought a more efficient system based on expertise rather than favouritism. The East India Company provided a model for Stafford Northcote , private Secretary to Gladstone who, with Charles Trevelyan , drafted

1121-726: The political system in Japan . The seven secretaries appointed to the prime minister are called the executive secretaries to the prime minister ( 内閣総理大臣秘書官 ). Civil Service (United Kingdom) King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee In

1180-712: The royal households for the other working members of the British royal family . The household of the Prince of Wales , as heir apparent to the British throne , is led by a principal private secretary, who runs his private office. In the British Armed Forces , the Naval Secretary , Military Secretary , and Air Secretary are senior officers appointed to advise the First Sea Lord , Chief of

1239-488: The "fast stream" recruitment process for accessing the upper echelons should be made more flexible, to encourage candidates from less privileged backgrounds. The new Department was set up by Prime Minister Harold Wilson's Labour Government in 1968 and named the Civil Service Department , known as CSD. Wilson himself took on the role of Minister for the Civil Service (which has continued to be a portfolio of

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1298-500: The Civil Service consisted of essential services, and that the "mandarins" (senior civil servants) needed to focus on efficiency and management rather than on policy advice. In late 1981 the Prime Minister announced the abolition of the Civil Service Department, transferring power over the Civil Service to the Prime Minister's Office and Cabinet Office . The Priestley Commission principle of pay comparability with

1357-469: The Civil Service — often known by the metonym of Whitehall — forms an inseparable part of the British government . The executive decisions of government ministers are implemented by the Civil Service. Civil servants are employees of the Crown and not of the British parliament . Civil servants also have some traditional and statutory responsibilities which to some extent protect them from being used for

1416-891: The General Staff , and the Chief of the Air Staff on administrative matters. The Naval Secretary was known as the Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty from 1800 to 1910. A classic explanation is provided in the British sitcom Yes Minister . Hacker: Who else is in this department? Sir Humphrey: Well briefly, sir, I am the Permanent Under-Secretary of State, known as

1475-429: The Government of India . Senior principal private secretary (Senior PPS) is a member of Central Secretariat Stenographers Service and is one rank above principal private secretary that takes care of the office of a secretary to the Government of India or the equivalent rank officer Member CBIC or Member Railway Board. P.S.O. is principal staff officer, who is also a member of Central Secretariat Stenographers Service and

1534-472: The PO temporarily, but would be considered subject matter experts for that area of work in the department. Working in a private office as a private secretary or an assistant private secretary is highly desired due to widely being seen as essential for advancement to the Senior Civil Service . Although considered to be a highly rewarding and sought-after post, it is one of the most difficult when compared to others at

1593-929: The Permanent Secretary. Woolley here is your Principal Private Secretary. I too have a Principal Private Secretary and he is the Principal Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary. Directly responsible to me are ten Deputy Secretaries, 87 Under Secretaries and 219 Assistant Secretaries. Directly responsible to the Principal Private Secretaries are plain Private Secretaries, and the Prime Minister will be appointing two Parliamentary Under-Secretaries and you will be appointing your own Parliamentary Private Secretary. Hacker: Can they all type? Sir Humphrey: None of us can type. Mrs MacKay types: she's

1652-762: The Prime Minister), while the first Minister in Charge of the Civil Service Department was Cabinet Minister Lord Shackleton, also Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal. The first Permanent Secretary was Sir William Armstrong, who moved over from his post as Permanent Secretary at the Treasury. After the 1970 General Election, new Conservative Prime Minister Ted Heath appointed Lord Jellicoe in Lord Shackleton's place. Into Heath 's Downing Street came

1711-466: The Second World War demands for change grew again. There was a concern (illustrated in C. P. Snow 's Strangers and Brothers series of novels) that technical and scientific expertise was mushrooming, to a point at which the "good all-rounder" culture of the administrative civil servant with a classics or other arts degree could no longer properly engage with it: as late as 1963, for example,

1770-480: The Treasury had just 19 trained economists. The times were, moreover, ones of keen respect for technocracy, with the mass mobilisation of war having worked effectively, and the French National Plan apparently delivering economic success. And there was also a feeling which would not go away, following the war and the radical social reforms of the 1945 Labour government, that the so-called " mandarins " of

1829-471: The United Kingdom centred around the street Whitehall , hence the metonym. Initially, they were little more than secretariats for their leaders, who held positions at court . They were chosen by the king on the advice of a patron, and typically replaced when their patron lost influence. In the 18th century, in response to the growth of the British Empire and economic changes, institutions such as

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1888-465: The department and other ministerial private offices in Whitehall . A PS or an APS is always in attendance with the minister at every official meeting or event to provide support; and to ensure that a member of the Civil Service, who are non-political appointees, takes a factual note of discussions and commitments made. They also have ownership of the ministerial diary, managing the minister's time with

1947-616: The diary secretary. This means prioritising invitations, commitments, policy briefings and submissions and parliamentary business. A PS is always the initial source of advice to Ministers on policy, parliamentary protocol, the process of cabinet government and departmental administration. Often the PS and APS will take on specific responsibilities within the private office, dividing their minister's portfolio between them, with each PS dealing solely with policy, correspondence and diary matters relating to it. They often deputise and support other members of

2006-501: The efficiency scrutiny programme and with a wider focus on corporate planning, efficiency and objective-setting. Progress initially was sluggish, but in due course MINIS-style business planning became standard, and delegated budgets were introduced, so that individual managers were held much more accountable for meeting objectives, and for the first time for the resources they used to do so. Performance-related pay began in December 1984,

2065-584: The equivalent grade. Depending upon the seniority of their political principal, private secretaries may be regarded as important officials in their own right; the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister being the most important and is currently equivalent to a Director General in the Civil Service. Other notable positions include the Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and

2124-402: The equivalent of a chief of staff and have the responsibility of managing a minister's office. Members of Parliament who are appointed as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary are also entitled to appoint a Senior Private Secretary to their staff. A system of the ministerial secretary ( 秘書官 , Hishokan ), one to several per minister playing a role similar to the private secretary's, is also employed by

2183-479: The fast stream self-selected, with the universities of Oxford and Cambridge still producing a large majority of successful English candidates, since the system continued to favour the tutorial system at Oxbridge while to an extent the Scottish Ancient universities educated a good proportion of recruits from north of the border. The younger mandarins found excuses to avoid managerial jobs in favour of

2242-452: The higher civil service were too remote from the people. Indeed, between 1948 and 1963 only three per cent of the recruits to the administrative class came from the working classes , and in 1966 more than half of the administrators at undersecretary level and above had been privately educated. Lord Fulton 's committee reported in 1968. He found that administrators were not professional enough, and in particular lacked management skills; that

2301-582: The holder of certain other offices in respect of whose tenure of office special provision has been made; [or] a servant of the Crown in a personal capacity paid from the Civil List ". As such, the civil service does not include government ministers (who are politically appointed); members of the British Armed Forces ; police officers ; officers of local government authorities ; employees of some non-departmental public bodies ; officers or staff of either of

2360-485: The key report in 1854. The Northcote–Trevelyan Report recommended a permanent, unified, politically neutral civil service, with appointments made on merit, and a clear division between staff responsible for routine ("mechanical") and those engaged in policy formulation and implementation ("administrative") work. The report was not implemented, but it came as the bureaucratic chaos in the Crimean War demonstrated that

2419-417: The level of autonomy envisaged at the start. By 5 April 1993, 89 agencies had been established, and contained over 260,000 civil servants, some 49 per cent of the total. The focus on smaller, more accountable, units revived the keenness of Ministerial interest in the perceived efficiencies of the private sector. Already in the late 1980s, some common services once set up to capture economies of scale, such as

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2478-664: The military was as backward as the civil service. A Civil Service Commission was set up in 1855 to oversee open recruitment and end patronage as Parliament passed an Act "to relieve the East India Company from the obligation to maintain the College at Haileybury". Prime Minister Gladstone took the decisive step in 1870 with his Order in Council to implement the Northcote-Trevelyan proposals. This system

2537-539: The more prestigious postings. The generalists remained on top, and the specialists on tap. Margaret Thatcher came to office in 1979 believing in free markets as a better social system in many areas than the state: government should be small but active. Many of her ministers were suspicious of the civil service, in light of public choice research that suggested public servants (as well as elected officials themselves) tend to act in ways that seek to increase their own power and budgets. She immediately set about reducing

2596-431: The parent Citizen's Charter programme itself. The position of Minister for the Civil Service is not part of the Civil Service as it is a political position which has always been held by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom . Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs The principal private secretary to the secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs

2655-412: The political advantage of the party in power. Senior civil servants may be called to account to Parliament. In general use, the term civil servant in the United Kingdom does not include all public sector employees. Although there is no fixed legal definition, the term is usually defined as a " servant of the Crown working in a civil capacity who is not the holder of a political (or judicial ) office;

2714-415: The position of technical and scientific experts needed to be rationalised and enhanced; and that the service was indeed too remote. His 158 recommendations included the introduction of a unified grading system for all categories of staff, a Civil Service College and a central policy planning unit. He also said that control of the service should be taken from the Treasury, and given to a new Department, and that

2773-538: The post of private secretary (PS) and an additional private secretary (APS) to the Union Council of Ministers of India (cabinet ministers and minister of state) are Group A ( All India Services or Central Civil Services ) officers, appointed by the President of India . In Prime Minister's Office (India) , the private secretary to Prime Minister of India is always in the rank and post of Joint secretary to

2832-795: The private sector was abandoned in February 1982. Meanwhile, Michael Heseltine was introducing a comprehensive system of corporate and business planning (known as MINIS) first in the Department of the Environment and then in the Ministry of Defence . This led to the Financial Management Initiative , launched in September 1982 ( Efficiency and Effectiveness in the Civil Service (Cmnd 8616)) as an umbrella for

2891-399: The role is of considerably greater significance than their grade would suggest. Depending on the status of the political principal the official works for, they may be aided by an assistant private secretary (APS), or head a private office . A principal private secretary , or senior private secretary, is a senior civil servant who runs a cabinet minister 's private office. A similar role to

2950-435: The secretary. Hacker: Pity, we could have opened an agency. Sir Humphrey: Very droll, Minister. Hacker: I suppose they all say that, do they? Sir Humphrey: Certainly not, Minister. Not quite all... (From the episode " Open Government ", transmitted 25 February 1980) In Australian Public Service the principal private secretary is the civil servant who runs a cabinet minister's private office. In India,

3009-408: The size of the civil service, cutting numbers from 732,000 to 594,000 over her first seven years in office. Derek Rayner , the former chief executive of Marks & Spencer , was appointed as an efficiency expert with the Prime Minister's personal backing; he identified numerous problems with the Civil Service, arguing that only three billion of the eight billion pounds a year spent at that time by

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3068-479: The size of the private office expanded to provide policy and administrative support; the chief civil servant in the private office became the principal private secretary. Today, he or she is the head of a small department, and the post is a senior and prestigious one, now typically held for a two-year term by an experienced officer from the Diplomatic Service . The post is director grade equivalent in

3127-524: Was believed with the Thatcher reforms that efficiency was improving. But there was still a perception of carelessness and lack of responsiveness in the quality of public services. The government of John Major sought to tackle this with a Citizen's Charter programme. This sought to empower the service user, by setting out rights to standards in each service area, and arrangements for compensation when these were not met. An Office of Public Service and Science

3186-432: Was broadly endorsed by commissions chaired by Playfair (1874), Ridley (1886), MacDonnell (1914), Tomlin (1931) and Priestley (1955). The Northcote–Trevelyan model remained essentially stable for a hundred years. This was attributed to its success in removing corruption, delivering public services, even under stress of war, and responding effectively to political change. Patrick Diamond argues: The Northcote-Trevelyan model

3245-671: Was built on thereafter, and continues to this day, though the sums involved have always been small compared to the private sector, and the effectiveness of PRP as a genuine motivator has often been questioned. In February 1988 Robin Ibbs , who had been recruited from ICI in July 1983 to run the Efficiency Unit (now in No. 10), published his report Improving Management in Government: The Next Steps . This envisaged

3304-427: Was characterised by a hierarchical mode of Weberian bureaucracy; neutral, permanent and anonymous officials motivated by the public interest; and a willingness to administer policies ultimately determined by ministers. This bequeathed a set of theories, institutions and practices to subsequent generations of administrators in the central state. The Irish Civil Service was separate from the British Civil Service. Whilst

3363-418: Was greeted with some derision, and it is true that the compensation sometimes hardly seemed worth the effort of claiming, and that the service standards were rarely set with much consumer input. But the initiative did have a significant effect in changing cultures, and paradoxically the spin-off Chartermark initiative may have had more impact on local organisations uncertain about what standards to aim for, than

3422-441: Was set up in 1992, to see that the Charter policy was implemented across government. By 1998, 42 Charters had been published, and they included services provided by public service industries such as the health service and the railways, as well as by the civil service. The programme was also expanded to apply to other organisations such as local government or housing associations, through a scheme of "Chartermark" awards. The programme

3481-448: Was why the function should not be abolished or privatised. In November 1991 the private finance initiative was launched, and by November 1994 the Chancellor of the Exchequer had referred to it as 'the funding mechanism of choice for most public sector projects'. In 1995 the decision was taken to privatise the Chessington Computer Centre , HMSO , the Occupational Health & Safety Agency and Recruitment & Assessment Services. It

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